Allen West Offends Congressional Black Caucus With Chick-Fil-A Gift

Apparently Congressman Allen West sent the Congressional Black Caucus Chick-Fil-A six months ago, but with the latest controversy surrounding the company, the "incident" is being revisited.

A Democratic lawmaker says Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) offended the entire Congressional Black Caucus by delivering Chick-fil-A chicken and biscuits to their weekly meeting -- and then walking out -- when it was his turn to provide the group with a formal lunch.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) told The Huffington Post that the incident happened about six months ago but is now fresh in his mind given West's recent comments in support of the fast food chain, which is run by a well-known Christian and backer of anti-gay religious organizations. Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy last week sparked a nationwide response from gay rights activists after publicly denouncing marriage equality.

"We have a rotation in the Congressional Black Caucus where every member provides the lunch one of the weeks when we meet," Hastings said in a Monday interview. The lunches, he said, are often quite delicious.

"We have fried chicken. And we have catfish and BBQ. We do not have watermelon, although sometimes people will have fruit. We serve a full course meal with collard greens. We have Jamaican beans and rice," Hastings said. But West "sent Chick-fil-A with biscuits. Ok?"

"That was an 'in your face.' Every member of the Congressional Black Caucus that was there was offended," he said.

West is the only conservative in a sea of liberals in the CBC. Instead of tolerating West's minority opinion and decision to provide food from a conservative Christian company, the rest of the CBC was....offended.

"He did it deliberately," Hastings said, explaining that he saw West's message as, "You know, 'That's what I think of you all.'"